Wonderful Weekends (Historic State Portrait of Queen Crystobel I of Scotney)

The Duke of Swann has magnanimously donated the famous State Portrait his father took of the late Queen Crystobel I of Scotney to the Democratic Republic of Scotney. This historic portrait comes in lieu of the last decade's growing diplomatic friendliness between the nations of Scotney and Swann but also as a result of renewed interest in Royalty and their historic role in former monarchies like Scotney. The portrait is currently being displayed in a comprehensive exhibit of the Duke of Swann's photography in the Royal Art Museum in Swann. Once the display reaches it's final date this historic portrait will be delivered to Scotney where it will be hung ironically above the Grand Staircase of the Houses of Parliament. 

Her Majesty, Queen Crystobel I of Scotney. 

What's Up Wednesday (Diplomatic Tour of the Shahbanou of Perlistan)

Traditionally the season for state visits or in this case diplomatic tour, early and late in every year we get to see a lot of glamour associated with these official visits. Earlier in January we reported on Queen Gloria's State Visit to Syldavia and today we feature the tour of the Shahbanou of Perlistan to Hispania and Hanoveria which took place over the last week. Strictly not a State Visit as the Shahbanou is not a head of state but a pretender, the Shahbanou was afforded ambassadorial status as she did officially represent her native country and several charities. The main aim of the Shahbanou's tour was to promote trade between her native country and those visited. Hanoveria and Hispania were earmarked because of their political stability and friendly diplomatic terms with middle eastern nations. "By no means does Perlistan wish to exclude other Europan nations but felt that these were the welcome mat to further ventures", the Shahbanou was quoted to say.

Due to the relaxed formality of the tour the Shahbanou did not receive a State welcome at the airport but just arrived like any V.I.P. with the paparazzi flashing away at the hotel.

She attended a banquet in her honour and to focus more media attention on her visit hosted by Queen Maria at the Royal Residence. Queen Maria is very fond of the Shahbanou and they are on very friendly terms, often sharing holiday homes. 

An all out " tiara duel" was on the diplomatic stage at the pretender "Empress"of Perlistan packed out the big diamonds for this formal event. 

Queen Maria was not going to back down and even though the dress code was shorter skirts, she did also wear her "best" tiara.

After two days in Hispania, the tour moved to Hanoveria where the Shahbanou was also honoured with a banquet. Hanoveria, for pageantry's sake expects full regalia and ball gowns for their State Banquets. 

The Hanoverian Royal Palace played host to the visiting "diplomat" with flags waving and full ceremony as for a proper head of state.

Wearing a positively spectacular dress in accordance with dress code protocol at the Hanoverian Court, the Shahbanou elicited gasps from the guests and even the Grand Ducal couple noted how striking she looked. 

The Shahbanou wore sapphires last seen worn by her mother over two decades ago and her dress is reportedly from a new designer on the International stage by the name of Hilegonda. We will look out for more of their couture. 

Full court dress is required for men and the Grand Duke obviously did not disappoint with chains of office and chivalric orders. 

Grand Duchess Alice wore the famous ruby jewellery bought by her husband from his aunt, Empress Crystobel's estate. The rubies are a welcome sight as many Royal watchers were concerned that Empress Crystobel's jewellery would languish in vaults after her death.

After compulsory ceremonials, the tour was a great success with the Shahbanou raising awareness for many child welfare initiatives initiative and meeting with several large businesses establishing the groundwork for new trade contracts. We hope to see more of the would-be Empress and wish her and her people well.

Wonderful Weekends (State Portraits of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Reichenthal)

In celebration of the Grand Duke of Reichethal's Investiture into the the Order of the Diamond Star in 2014, the Royal Family of Reichenthal released a set of official portraits. They have gone unmentioned on the blog until now and we thought to publish them in our standard Wonderful Weekend slot albeit a bit late. 

The Grand Duke's obvious intent in these photos was to commemorate the Order of the Diamond Star and is clearly seen wearing the red sash and star badge insignia of the order. He pairs it with the badge of the Order of the Syldav Cross, seen directly below the badge of the Diamond Star. 

The Grand Duchess of Reichenthal joined her husband for these official photos and wore an entirely new tiara, said to have been bought for her by her husband as a token of gratitude for her support over the years which led to him receiving his knighthood. 

Their Grand Ducal Highnesses, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Reichenthal.  

What's Up Wednesday (Duke of Swann Photography Exhibition)

This past weekend saw the Duke of Swann open an exhibition of his famous photographic portraits. The photos have been covered in previous posts on our blog when they were first released but now will have their own physical exhibition in the Swann capital. Please follow the two links below for the two features on the photos by themselves.

http://daniel-s-world.blogspot.com/2014/10/wonderful-weekends-duke-of-swann-photo.html

http://daniel-s-world.blogspot.com/2012/10/wonderful-weekends-duke-of-swann-photo.html

The Swann Royal Art Gallery was the obvious choice for the Duke's second internationally acclaimed exhibit and also received much needed publicity of its own for it.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Swann, patron of the museum and the Swann Royal Society for Visual Arts was the guest of honour and host at the opening on Saturday evening.

First of the V.I P. guests to arrive was the world famous art collector and friend of the Duke of Swann, the Baron D'Rothchild and his wife.

The highest ranking Royal to be present at the exhibit and representing herself and her husband who couldn't make it was the Crown Princess Imperial. Both the Princess and her husband (the Duke of Swann's cousin) are featured in the photo series exhibition.

Inside the museum's main gallery the portraits are displayed in the format they were intended to be seen in, namely printed out very large and with no embellished frames.The clean cut lines and uncluttered design of the gallery lends itself perfectly for focusing all attention on the displayed art.

The photo portraits can do nothing but attract the viewers attention in sequence as they are set out in the gallery.

The full exhibit makes for a very impressive site of avant garde expression.

A media magnet, the "Punk Princess" the Princess Oktavia Von Hohen und Silberstein was also on the illustrious guest list and showed great interest in acquiring prints of the photo set.

Another featured Royal with a photo on the wall was the Princess of Wallachia, another cousin of the Duke of Swann. The photo series focused mainly on close family and intimate friends of the Duke.

As the guests and media filled the gallery the Duke of Swann wasted no time to begin mingling.

All present were clearly enthralled by the exhibit...

...and luxurious facilities allowed for respite amid the excitement.

The Duke of Swann is seen chatting to his cousin, Princess Kirsten Youssopoff who can be seen as the subject of the portrait on the wall behind them. The photos aim to capture the subjects personality and character as seen by the photographer who presumes to know the subject intimately. It also hopes to portray boldly the more unknown realities of the Royal persona in their duty as a Royal.

Here Princess Augusta is seen in front of her portrait. She opted to be immortalized wearing a tiara she was at that stage in the process of selling, ironically cementing her role in history, not just as a Princess but as a antique jewellery dealer.

The Duke of Swann also captured his sister and her husband in separate portraits.

The Duke has a very long and intimate friendship with his closest aide, Sir Charles Jennings. Descended from Royalty himself but now the personal secretary/chauffeur/bodyguard was given the honour of counting as one of the Duke's recognized inner circle with a portrait of his own.  Do you think the portrait captures the nature of Sir Charles, just from what we mentioned here?

The exhibit centers around three main female characters, representing three generations of Royalty and the Duke of Swann's own heritage. Here we see His Royal Highness next to the Crown Princess Imperial with her portrait. She represents the current generation of modern Royals marching boldly into the future. Another portrait of her husband, the pretender Emperor of the United Empire, is also on display at the gallery.

Each portrait is accompanied with a short poetic tribute to the subject. Here follows the one coupled to the Portrait of the Crown Princess Imperial: "Gently wild, humbly beautiful, naturally crowned. More of who she is inside than what she wears on the outside. This farm girl made princess will always beam an innocent smile outshining any of the grandest jewels at her disposal. Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess Imperial will make a worthy Empress if the United Empire ever gets restored. Regardless she will never be anything other than an amazing woman."

The next portrait in the series of three central characters is that of the deceased Empress Crystobel, taken long before her tragic assassination. The portrait drew much and very emotive responses from the gallery guests, some of whom, close family members of the Duke of Swann's aunt.

A matriarch, loving mother, wise planner, resolute, hopeful, refined and graceful. All these qualities shine through regardless of the title borne by Empress Crystobel, former co-regent of the now fallen United Empire of Scot-Britania. 

The next and last portrait in the series of three is not one taken by the Duke of Swann but owned through inheritance by him. It is exhibited in homage to the Duke of Swann's father who was the photographer and original inspiration for the Duke of Swann's interest in photograpy. It is clear from this portrait where the Duke of Swann got his "eye" for photographic opportunities and composition from. One could say that it was this very portrait that directly led to the Duke of Swann, years later, to do the whole series and exhibit.

The photo is of Queen Crystobel I of Scotney, mother to Empress Crystobel and grandmother to the Duke of Swann. She stands as testament of an old world foundation that now three generations later we all still build on. The photo stands as testament of talents and vision being passed from father to son regardless of intellectual disagreements and emotional hurdles. The photo, a state portrait taken by the former Duke of Swann as a gift for the Queen and people of Scotney, stands as the permanence of the concept of Royalty. Ironically, the original gifted portrait was destroyed during the 96 Revolution but the Duke of Swann had another original copy in his archives which is the one on display. 

 The Duke of Swann has, in the spirit of the original portrait and the exhibition as a whole, decided to donated the portrait to the Scot-Britanian Government as an official historic State Portrait. 

We close with the words the Duke of Swann stated in his opening address; "Images are truly powerful and we hope that these inspire this generation and the next to greater heights."

 To see more on the entire exhibit with all the photo portraits accompanied by their descriptions please follow the links shared above.

Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (Princess Augusta Sells Tiaras)

Her Imperial Highness, Princess Augusta of Scot-Britania has released a short press statement concerning rumours of her selling Imperial treasures. She did so exclusively to this blog as she is quoted as trusting it "...as the most authentic media source on Royalty in the world". The Princess has admitted to selling two parures of famous jewellery in private sales towards the end of 2014. However she was the legal owner in her private capacity and both sets' Royal provenance was not directly linked to the Imperial House of Aldarian. The Princess, as a world renowned art and antique jewellery dealer also stated that she often acquires pieces for their investment value with the intent on selling later at an opportune time. Her wearing of said jewellery in public does not make it the property or the historic heritage of the the Imperial Family. The Princess does act as custodian of many such Imperial pieces and would never dream of selling them on the open market. 

The first set Princess Augusta admitted she sold is the Bunting Emerald Parure. She acquired it in the United States in the late 90's from the exiled family of the last Baron Bunting and now with appreciated value sold it in a private sale to a buyer who's identity must legally remain confidential. 

The Princess wore the emeralds on several occasions to dazzling effect. She said that the right buyer came at the right time and thus we may never see her wearing emeralds again. We may of course keep on the lookout for the set as it may or may not have ended up in one of our other famous Royals' coffers. 

The spectacular Drop Sapphire Parure came to Princess Augusta from a collector who reputedly bought it from one of the fleeing Ruskian Noble Families after the Great War. The collector and the family who sold it still remains legally confidential but Princess Augusta being privy to the knowledge admitted to selling it back to its rightful owners when the opportunity arose. 

In this photo we see her wearing the sapphire which was apparently one of her favourites and very difficult to sells for that reason. However conviction and eventually profit got the better of her and the set returned "home". We look forward to seeing who ends up being the ellusive Ruskian Noble Family as a descendant wears it for the first time in almost a century. 

Wonderful Weekends (Duke of Swann and Countess De Lumbre Dance for Charity)

The Duke of Swann, a world renowned supporter of the Flamenco Dancing discipline, was joined again by his friend the Countess De Lumbre to dance for charity. The famous Royals have danced in aid of charities before and decided this time to raise awareness for old age homes in Swann and Hispania. To view their previous dance follow the link below.

http://daniel-s-world.blogspot.com/search/label/Spanish%20Dancing

The Flamenco style was chosen for this particular performance. This style requires clapping to precede the actual dance. Clapping is called "palmas" in the original Hispanic. 

The flowing organic moves of the lady dancer is accented by the very strong formality of the male. 

Often the two dancer will circle each other or one around the other. 

Short postured poses interspersed in the dance gives the dancers respite, usually before extensive footwork called "zapateado". 

The Duke of Swann performs the extremely difficult footwork while the Countess claps. 

Then in perfect unison with the music, the dance stops. The dance served to raise awareness for a selection of old age homes of the Duke's and Countess' choice. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. 

Fascinating Fridays (Jewellery Terminology; "De Resile" Necklace)

"De Resile" is a Franconian term meaning "hair net".  It was applied satirically in the late 1800's to a fashionable style of necklace worn by the upper classes. A progression from what we may consider the standard choker, the De Resile necklace added layered strands and pendants to the bottom of the close fitting " dog collar". This was what many considered to be the apex op wearing a maximum quantity of precious stones around the neck from as high up to as low on the cleavage as appropriately possible. In that " golden age" of  jewellery, wearing profuse amounts of jewels to show rank and status became the epitome of Royal style. The tiaras were huge, earrings heavily dangled low and necklaces must have felt like farmyard yokes. The " hairnet" comparison alluded to these necklaces often applying a net-like appearance by virtue of dangling festoons and criss-cross elements in their design. Here follows some of the many necklaces that fall in this category amongst our Royal Collections. 

Queen Gloria of Normandia wears the oldest know "De Resile style necklace in this photo. It is part of the Crown Jewel Collection of Normandia and predates the era where this style became popular but definitely set the stage for future manifestations of the necklace. 

Empress Crystobel had two necklaces in this style of oddly exactly the same design. The only difference was the use of coloured stones. This photo shows her wearing the purple amethyst and black pearl version but she also owned a white pearl and diamond one. 

This composite archive photo allows us to compare the designs of the necklaces. Also not the similarity albeit not exact copies of the tiaras.

The Romagna Royal Jewel Collection includes a De Resile necklace pictured in the center of the photo. It has low hanging festoons doing justice to the net effect these necklaces are meant to display. 

Here, the Duchess DiGiorgio can be seen wearing the necklace in 2012 from the Romagna Collection. 

The Duchess of Argyle received this very low hanging necklace, pictured above, as a gift from the Duke of Swann. 

The Duchess of Argyle is seen wearing her necklace to very dramatic effect which is exactly what these types of necklaces are meant to do, namely impress for shear size.